Flu season lighter than last year, but doctors seeing a recent uptick

Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times
Nueces County has seen a light flu season, a trend doctors attribute to the growing demand for flu vaccines.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times
Dr. David Foster meets with a new patient Wednesday in his office at the Christus Spohn Family Health Center on Padre Island. He says he recently saw an uptick in flu cases.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CORPUS CHRISTI - Fewer people caught the flu this season compared to years past, a trend health officials say might be the result of a growing demand for vaccines in the aftermath of swine flu.

Two-thirds of the way into flu season, the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District reported 193 confirmed flu cases by Feb. 25, the smallest amount since at least the 2007-08 season, the earliest season for which the district has records.

At the same time last year, the district had reported 10 times more cases, or 1,930.

Flu season in Texas runs from October to May but typically spikes in January and February.

Doctors have seen an uptick in flu cases in recent weeks, but Dr. William Burgin, local health authority, said he does not expect a late, sharp peak in cases. Rather, flu season likely will end in May still below prior years' rates, he said.

"I think we're over the hump," he said.

Dr. George Benavidez, a family practice doctor, said more people are demanding the flu vaccine after swine flu, also known as H1N1, sickened hundreds and killed at least 11 in Nueces County in 2009.

"People are a little bit more anxious now," he said.

Benavidez said he already has run out of flu vaccines, a sign that more people are getting immunized.

Padre Island family practice Dr. David Foster said he's been pushing the flu vaccine more than ever before. He's seen fewer flu cases this year though he too reported seeing an increase in recent weeks.

"It's either going to be a slow season or a late one," he said. "It's real hard to predict. I'm hoping we have a light season."

Cyndee Malowitz, owner of Bay Area Quick Care, said she thinks the recent uptick is evidence that the flu is peaking later than usual.

"I believe we're just seeing the beginning of it," she said.

She said it's too early to say whether the season will end with fewer cases than in the past, adding that most patients she's diagnosed with the flu did not get the vaccine.

Immunization experts and officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend everyone older than 6 months get a flu shot.